Funny things the dogs do. Part 1

Not a day goes by that the dogs don't have us laughing at some point...likely several points throughout the day. One of my favorite moments/least favorite moments is the daily howl. Let me explain the love/hate feelings I have for this entertaining event.

Just about every day, the dogs will decide to throw their heads back and howl to the ceiling, or the dog gods, or the ghosts that likely inhabit our old building. It's hard to pinpoint what inspires the howl. Sometimes it will happen if there are a lot of people passing by the playroom windows. Noon on Wednesday is a great time to howl--that's the weekly scheduled test time for the city tornado sirens (or are they flood sirens? GREAT. If I ever hear them for real I won't know whether to duck and cover or run for higher ground. Mental note: find out what the sirens mean!). Sometimes I think they just do it whenever the mood strikes.

The leading culprit in starting the howl in the big dog group is Cash. Yep, no withholding names to protect the not-so-innocent here. It is Cash, our beloved red guy who has been coming to Pooches almost since the day we opened in the fall of 2005. Cash is a GREAT dog. He is so easy to handle and he gets along with any dog that comes to play. Everyone loves Cash. But boy can he get the crowd going!

In the early days of our business when we were still building our customer base and introducing Pooches to the community, we didn't have a full house and the daily howl was just fun/funny. Cash would toss his head back, form a little "o" with his lips and start singing. Pretty soon all the dogs in attendance would join in and, what the heck, the humans caring for the dogs joined in too!We had one heck of an opera going. Did we stop to wonder what passersby might think of three or four people sitting in the middle of 20 dogs, howling to the heavens? Nah. We're dog people. We don't care what you think!

Now, however, we have a few more dogs spread throughout our facility. And while the howl is initially still fun/funny, after a few moments it becomes absolutely ear splitting. If we could get the dogs to sing in rounds, it would still be acceptable, but all at once? Well, the decibel level easily rivals the tornado/flood sirens.

So how do you stop the madness? Well, if you're around when the howl starts, rather hearing the humans join in, you are likely to hear a chorus of people calling out "CASH!" You see, we have found that the dog who starts the ruckus is also the dog who can stop it! If Cash sings, everyone sings. If Cash stops, everyone stops. What I would give for a fraction of Cash's power...

So...what DO the dogs do all day?

We get this question a lot. Well, the dogs play. They play with each other, they play with toys, they play with their Pooches human friends. Some dogs enjoy a little training during the day (by owner request). All dogs get hugs, pats and belly rubs. They go outside often to take care of business and enjoy the day. They play in the water buckets (though we don't encourage this one!), they sometimes play with their dog beds or cots (we don't encourage this one either!). Sometimes they smash their ring attendants (while we don't encourage this activity, it can be pretty dang funny). Some days we rev up the good old bubble machine and many of the dogs have a great time chasing and popping bubbles. We have kong toys, kong rubber balls, nylabones, and other TOUGH AS HECK toys. And yes, as you can see in the photo, the dogs do take naps. You can't play the WHOLE day and they also enjoy chilling out together. Of course the play time lasts a lot longer than the quiet time, but they do get some down time. Through natural play, the dogs get great socialization and exercise, and of course, the pros at Pooches are always there to supervise all the action to be sure everyone plays fair and has a good time.

Oh...and the wet spot you see in the photo...it's NOT what you might think it is. I promise. It's just a freshly mopped spot. Not to say that it wasn't previously what you might have been thinking...

And in the beginning...

This morning I got a great flashback to the very, very early days of Pooches. This day started with the news that one of my fabulous employees was ill and not going to be there for open. Now, this really isn't the best news in the world as opening our business is a busy time what with getting all of the boarding dogs cared for before we open our doors to our daycare clients. But with my other fabulous (I think I will use that word to describe them a lot here...get used to it!) employees already on the job, I pulled into the parking lot in good spirits. You see, when an employee is out, that means I get to abandon all of the "co-owner of the business" duties and get right back to my hug-dogs-get-slimed-clean-up-poop-hang-with-the-pack roots.

Lawanna and I talk about this often--how great it is to get back into the rings and remember exactly why we started this business in the first place. Simply stated, we love dogs. We love them a great deal. We love hanging out with them, playing with them, training them, playing referee while they play, and yes, we even love cleaning up after them--we just love it all. In Pooches' infancy it was just me, Lawanna and one other employee. It's almost hard to imagine those days now. Lawanna and I would come open the daycare together, braving the early alarm clocks day in and day out. I don't mind telling you that I do LOVE having a fabulous (see!) staff of employees who now allow the boss ladies to have some sleep-in time on alternating days (though I'm not sure either of us understands the concept of "sleep in" with the herd of dogs at each of our respective homes!). I will say, however, that the days when I get to dive right back in with the dogs as they arrive for a day of fun always prove to be some of the best days I have during the week. The dogs come through the door with tails wagging in anticipation of great play. They greet us with enthusiasm and affection that we readily return. And yes, they can be a bit rambunctious, but that's great too. We love seeing the early dogs expend their initial burst of energy and then settle into a nice day of fun and games.

It's safe to say this is not the job for everyone, but I love it. I had the BEST time playing with my dogs in the ring this morning. Some of the dogs were longtime friends, like Ajax and Cash who have been with us pretty much since our start, and some were newer buddies like John and Oscar. Old and new alike formed a great play bunch and we just had fun. That's what it's all about. Seeing the dogs have fun. So thank you to my under-the-weather employee (who did rally by midday! FABULOUS!) for allowing me to revisit the early days of Pooches once again. I had such fun...and then everyone arrived for their respective shifts and pretty much booted me back out to bossdom once again. Life is really good when "work" is something you truly love.

Lucky Pooch

Ok, this post is a bit off-topic (aka: not Pooches specific, but still about pooches!), but let me just warn you here and now--that's going to happen a lot!

Yesterday, Jim and I got up early on a Sunday morning to drive to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Sunday drive? Not really, though it was pretty and we did buy fresh corn on the roadside. The purpose of the drive was a beautiful little Dalmatian girl in the shelter there and she needed to get out! We, along with my partner in Pooches, Lawanna, have been active in Dalmatian Rescue for years. In fact, I am a founding member of the Dalmatian Assistance League, Inc. (1989) and Lawanna and Jim came onboard soon thereafter. Over the years we have had hundreds and hundreds of Dalmatians (and a variety of other breeds!) pass through our care, yet each one still manages to be special.

This girl is no exception. She's very pretty and oh-so-sweet. A bit nervous at first, she quickly decided that leaving the shelter with us was a good thing and settled into the car nicely. We shared treats with her, assured her that this was to be one of the best days of her young life and headed back to Tulsa. Quick kudos to the Fayetteville animal shelter are in order here--for a $50 adoption fee, our dog was spayed, given shots, checked for heartworm, wormed for intestinal parasites AND microchipped. SUCH a deal! They said that every dog that leaves the shelter is microchipped whether being adopted or reunited with an owner. Brilliant!

Anyhow, our new little foster dog earned the name Faye (yes, Fayetteville...not a huge stretch, but it seems to fit!). We brought her into our very doggy home and placed her in a run so the other dogs could sniff and get to know her through the fence before we turned her loose. We always like to see how a new dog reacts from a crate or fenced area first to avoid any potential conflicts since we have a rather HUGE number of dogs living with us.

With everyone minding their manners nicely, Faye made the leap into the masses that make up our furry family and all is going very well. What I have found out about Faye is that she doesn't seem to know how to play. She WANTS to join in when the younger dogs start running and wrestling, but she's just not sure how to go about it. She also has no clue about toys. She showed interest in one, but when I picked it up and tossed it for her, it scared her to death. Oops! I think with a bit of time and the excellent examples my dogs set (toy killers that they are), she'll likely learn the ropes. She does startle a bit from time to time, but remains sweet and without a mean bone in her body. She will make a lovely companion for someone as soon as the right someone surfaces.

So how does a lovely girl like Faye end up in a shelter? It's a question I have asked time and again throughout my years as a rescuer. How did Faye get lost? How did someone decide she wasn't worth finding? Why do simple dog activities confuse her? Why does she startle over little movements Jim or I make? These are questions that will never be answered. That's the norm for rescue.

What I do know is this...Faye is darling. She is standing with her head resting on leg as I type this. I also know that Faye is going to have a very good life from now on. We will see to that. Faye is going to become one of the lucky dogs...like the great dogs who come to play at Pooches every single day. One glance through the play rings and you see nothing but dogs who are dearly loved and cherished by their families. And hey, many of those dogs were once rescues too, plucked out of shelters or adopted from rescue groups. So take heart, sweet Faye and all the others like her, happiness may be just an adoption application away!

You've gotta start somewhere!

Pooches has been around now for nearly four years. FOUR YEARS! Wow. Cliche', but true, time does fly when you're having fun. What was once a dream that Lawanna and I loved to talk about is now a thriving reality and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the owners of Tulsa's best-loved dogs. We fully understand the level of trust it takes to turn over the care of your cherished pooch to someone else--even if only for a few hours in a day. We will continue to work hard to maintain that trust, while hopefully providing your dog with a really great experience every single time he or she visits...whether that visit is for a day of play, a bath, a training session or an extended stay.

What it boils down to is this: We absolutely love dogs. We want every visit to Pooches to be filled with fun and non-stop wagging tails. We have HUGE plans on the horizon for expanding our physical location and our services so stay tuned for all the exciting plans. The year to come is going to be even better than the first four and we can't wait to share it with our favorite dogs and their humans!